“Jerry Stieglitz.” Nobody’d told Jerry he had to be Steinberg this time around, even if he had the papers to show he was.

The door opened. The man on the other side of it was in his early forties, as tall as Jerry and thicker through the shoulders, with red-brown hair, bushy sideburns, and a mustache. He scowled at Jerry. “You’re the son of a bitch who told the Russians what we’re up to,” he growled.

“I sure am,” Jerry agreed cheerfully. “I’m also your new roomie, or that’s what Dale told me. And you’re Jerry Pournelle. I’ve heard you talk a few times. The CIA gave you a phony name in Long Beach, too, huh?”

“Yeah, they did.” Pournelle looked as if he wanted to stay angry but couldn’t quite manage it. He stepped aside. “Don’t stand there blocking the passageway. C’mon in, for God’s sake. Why in hell did you do such a horrible thing?” Now he sounded more curious than furious, too.

“For one thing, I don’t think it was so horrible. For another thing, it was my best chance to keep from getting murdered. Which locker you using?”

“The one on the right. What d’you mean, murdered?”

“As in killed. To death.” Jerry started putting his clothes in the empty locker. While he was tossing in socks and underwear and hanging up shirts and pants, he told the sad story of Stephen Dole one more time.

“I heard that was a robbery,” Pournelle said. Jerry just shook his head and explained why he didn’t think so. Pournelle looked troubled. “Damn! That’s terrible if it’s true. I knew Dole. Ferociously smart man.”

“I saw that from his book. Found out for real when I worked with him.”

“You were the one who figured out how to get into Humpty Dumpty to begin with, weren’t you? You aren’t so dumb yourself, I bet.”

Jerry shrugged. “That hardly matters now.” He eyed Pournelle. “Have you been one of the go-slow people when it came to trying to wake the aliens? I know somebody must have been, or they would have done more after they threw Steve and me out on our ears.”

“No, you aren’t dumb, not even slightly.” Pournelle had a habit of shouting even when he stood near you; Jerry remembered that from listening to him back in Los Angeles. He continued, “Yeah, I’m not in a hurry about it. We’re liable to damage them, or else they’re likely to damage us. I kind of had to raise my voice to Dale a couple of times to get the point across.”

“Has anyone had any luck in the control room or with the engines?” Jerry asked.